Is this a beetle hole?

[Niko8]

If so, what is the best approach to preventing further spread? I have already isolated this stick and do not see any others affected (yet). How worried should I be?

 

 

[JohnnyO]

Yup, Freeze/Fridge the others. John

[BoliDan]

Very much so. 😭

[Niko8]

If the room where I keep my cigars has not gone above 70 degrees, is it possible this stick was shipped with the hole? I may have missed it when unboxing. It was part of the petite robusto sampler. 

[Niko8]

Uh oh….

 

this looks like a dead beetle in one of my small tupperdors.

[NSXCIGAR]

1 minute ago, Niko8 said:

If my cigar room has not gone above 70 degrees

Beetle eggs can hatch at 66°. It's unlikely and it can take awhile but they are physically capable of emerging from inactivity at 66°. 

To answer your question I would consider it more likely the hole was there before receipt. 

Freeze all your cigars stored with that one for 3 days. That will kill any existing larvae and destroy any live eggs and at your 67-68° temps and ~64% rH it's highly unlikely beetles will be a problem in the future.

[El Presidente]

I have seen plenty of boxes over the years with a single beetle hole in them.  In such situations it is likely that the beetle hatched before the box was frozen.  If that hadn't been the case, .....you would have a box of flutes 

[Niko8]

@NSXCIGAR good info, thank you. 
 

@El Presidente, these are the most reassuring words I’ve heard. 

The culprit (Partagas petite robusto) had been stored in a small (54oz) Lock & Lock tupperdor with its petite robusto sampler brethren and a few loose Hoyos and Monty 2s. My issue is at one point I thought I had planned on smoking this particular Partagas so moved it to a larger (200 count) humidor with some Lusitanias, RYJ Churchills, Monty 2s, Punch DCs, and others. 
 

I cannot find any other affected sticks and don’t really see any tobacco dust. However, I did find what appears to be (?!?!?!!) a dead tobacco beatle inside the small tupperdor.

I have quarantined a bunch of sticks - including all from the small tupperdor and the petite robusto sampler. But, i am hesitant to freeze my entire humidor as I don’t want to damage those wonderful cigars and am unsure if the beetle damage was done pre or post arrival. 
 

My question is: do I move forward with freezing or continue down a minimal quarantine path?

 

 

 

Okay - so I am going to turn off RED ALERT and do a minimal quarantine. After hearing @NSXCIGAR and @El Presidente's words, I am going to assume this beetle hatched before being frozen. And, this did not occur while in my possession.

A few reasons make this likely:

• I received this Petite Robusto sampler the first week of January 2022, so have had the cigars in my possession for 7 months.
• No other cigars appear to be affected.
• No signs of tobacco dust.
• If a beetle hatched, there would likely have been many more, meaning more holes and lots of tobacco dust. I wasn't checking this humidor that frequently so they would likely have made quick work, i.e. I do not think I caught this early, rather I just happened to notice.
• My cigar cellar has not gone above 70 RH.

In the future:

• I will do a better job inspecting cigars upon receipt.
• I may set up a quarantine tupperdor.

Thank you for your help. I will keep you posted of any material developments. May even smoke this cigar 🤪

[SCgarman]

FWIW freezing your cigars has a no risk, all reward outcome. There is no flavor loss from freezing and you minimalize any risk of further beetle damage. I personally freeze all incoming boxes of cigars for 48 hours at -10 degrees F. Never seen a beetle hole in over 20 years and my cigars taste wonderful just as they should. You can do as you wish, but this works for me, and I tend to stick with things that work.

[Niko8]

@SCgarman this is great to know. What is your exact process? I am nervous about my freezer getting too cold or confronting the wild temperature swings that could crack wrappers. 

Also, how much time do you allow for the cigars to reacclimate before smoking?

[SCgarman]

5 hours ago, Niko8 said:

@SCgarman this is great to know. What is your exact process? I am nervous about my freezer getting too cold or confronting the wild temperature swings that could crack wrappers. 

Also, how much time do you allow for the cigars to reacclimate before smoking?

Very simple. First of all I have a chest freezer for frozen surplus food that I use because they achieve colder temps than a refrigerator/freezer and it gets opened less frequently. Take the box, place in zip lock freezer bag, suck the air out of bag and seal it shut. In it goes into chest freezer for 48 hours undisturbed. Then remove from freezer, take box out of zip lock and I let the box sit somewhere at room temperature for 30 minutes to acclimate. Then back into humidor cabinet. I have a healthy inventory so I usually won't dip into a new box for several months or even a year or more. It all depends. It is beneficial to let any new incoming box to at least acclimate for 90 days if possible, but if you really want to sample a stick then go ahead. Some like to sample a stick from a box say every 90 days or 180 days to see how age evolves the cigar with time. I like to have multiple boxes of my preferred cigars so as I burn through one box in a rotation the others have rested for a few years before I crack them for use! 

 

[winelover]

If I am not mistaken, Habanos SA freezes all cigars before exporting them?  At least that is my understanding...

[El Presidente]

46 minutes ago, winelover said:

If I am not mistaken, Habanos SA freezes all cigars before exporting them?  At least that is my understanding...

true. 

But only once they leave the factory. 

It is a beatle fest in the factory itself. Hence the occasional single hole executed by the star of the beatle class. 

[winelover]

i guess if they didn't freeze them, it would be like something off Indiana Jones!